Rsvl05TL

Just bought my new TL last week.
Thursday my wife and I take some friends from out of town to Napa for the day and heading home on Hwy 12 toward I-80 around 7 pm it's stop and go, stop and go, then some F@#$G jackass decides to do a two foot brake stand in front of me, I react in time and stop before hitting him .......whew. Then after I'm stopped for about 3 secs BAHHMMM!!!..... The jerk-off behind me slams into me doing about 15 - 20 MPH. My wife had to restrain me from jumping out of the car and beating this stupid F#$#@R senseless right there. No kidding, I had to do some serious "Zen breathing" for a good half a minute before I could exit the car without raging out.
I finally get our of the car and go around back and .........heavy sadness awaits me. The bumper is totally jacked!!








So not only am I pissed about the damage, but I get to drive on the freeway all the way home with a Ghetto ass looking jacked up ride.
Can't tell how much more damage awaits me once I get it to the repair shop. Needless to say the whole "new car" experience is totally gone now. I hadn't even burned through the first tank of gas yet, car wasn't even a week old, and now this. Jeeeeez......really made me think getting a new car was the stupidest thing I ever did. Well, enough rambling, I just needed to vent.
I'll repost once I find out the full extent of the damage and also how much the total repair cost was. The jerk-off that rear ended me gets to pay my deductible, still pisses me off though.

P.S.

In case your wondering.... the wine tasting in Napa that day was a total success

Acuraluvr

iTrader: (2)

hope you get the repairs..... done

looks sick srry and is the exhaust pipe bent?

Phillyboi

Man I can feel the hurt...I am really sorry to hear about your accident...looking at those pictures just makes me shrug. I just bought mine a week ago and if that would of happened to me, I would probably would of lost my temper and start yelling . It seems to me everyone was ok which is the most important thing. Good luck with the repair. When I was down in Cali and driving on the 5 with my rental Accord I thought I would get hit someway or another. Lucked out though. Best of luck to you.

vp911

Sorry dude. Hopefully the body shop can make her like new again.

KJSmitty

Truly the worst a new car buyer can feel....
I did laugh at your "Zen breathing" comment though... Been there done that. I think thats when my son learned to say F#@%ing idiot!! at age three...
--I normally don't swear around the kids...

Did the guy have insurance etc.?

Glad no-one was hurt though.

On a good note, if the factory paint wasn't that great of a match between bumper and body, it might be when don...

Hopefully the entire damage is contained to the bumper/bumper structure (looks like it from the pics).

Best wishes for a quick and painless recovery...

ghughes20

Hang in there. You may be surprised when you get the car back from the body shop. A valet driver banged up the front bumper on our '03 Odyssey before it was a year old. The extent of the damage was similar to yours, just in the front. I was amazed at the work the body shop did. You really can't tell the car was ever damaged.

Russdaddy

Hey, at least the guy that hit you HAS insurance. It very well could have been a situation where YOU would have had to pay the deductable instead.....

But I still can't blame you for being pissed! After all this guy stole your new car high! Try not to let it get to you too much! You'll be back out on the road flossin' in no time flat!

noychris

oh Lord!!!!! I can't imagine myself in your place man! The good thing is you're all find!

crazymjb

Thats what happened with our old minivan, except it took flight into the guys trailer hitch in front. it was for the better, or my dad would still be driving a 1990 dodge(had chrysler logos) red van.

What was the guy behind you driving?

ndx2

sorry to hear about the accident...

maybe you should consider getting the ronjon kit??

TerminaderTL

Sorry to hear about your accident. I couldn't wait to get the new car plates off my car. I felt like I was a magnet for idiots!!

And, by the way, you should have told the driver of the car that hit you that this is not what your dealer meant by 'break-in period!'

ExHack

That really sucks. At least it looks repairable. My first TSX got totalled on the freeway after about 5 months - some little 20 y/o hoochie-mama thought it was a bright idea to cut across 4 lanes of traffic at once, clipped a minivan, and not only skidded out of control and into my lap, but brought the minivan along for the party too.

And if that isn't bad enough, my partner took the second TSX back to CA last weekend. Picks up my sister-in-law. Comes out and the rear bumper cap and taillight are thrashed. There's a note under the windshield wiper. "Opps!" (Stupid b***h-c**t-ho who backed into the car couldn't even spell 'oops' right.) Someone got her plate number and a description of her and her car and left it w/my partner, though. I think I'll sue the stupid b***h in small-claims court for my deductible, just for kicks.

xcb5

and maybe they bent your exhaust too
cuz then you could hook it up with comptechs

crazymjb

I heard the comptechs caused a lot of vibration on the 5ATs, Not sure why, and not sure if that is an AT.

supernova_inc

It is actually not that bad from the pics you posted. I work as an insurance adjuster and honestly it looks like an O/H of the rear bumper and replacing the cover is all. if anything transferd to the body it still should be too bad. Just yesterday I saw an 04 that someone key'd on 8 exterior panels and so far I have spent 6k of my companies money trying to get it estimated for the shop to fix properly.

Rsvl05TL

To answer some of the questions;

The jerk-off supposedly is "covered under his Mom's insurance" (keeping my fingers crossed), but he was quite forthcoming with his drivers' license, address, phone, and his Mom's phone #. If he doesn't have insurance then my insurance company will, I'm sure, go after him to collect. Regardless, I still have to fork over the deductible for the repairs......hope I get it back after the insurance companies get it all worked out. Not getting reimbursed for my deductible would just be icing on the cake for this whole experience.
My agent seemed very confident about it however.

The knucklehead behind me was driving a 2001 - or thereabouts Toyota Celica, silver color, as you can tell by the "lipstick" on my rear bumper. Neither his headlights or my tailights were broken.....kinda strange that, but with the Celica wedge type hood he sort of submarined my TL.

I did checkout the sheetmetal in the truck area and underneath and from what I can see there doesn't seem to be any damage in that area. I'm not a bodyshop expert so I can't say what any additional damage was done just from eyeballing. I don't even think that the body shop will know for sure until the bumper cap comes off.

I looked at the passanger side tail pipe and surprisingly it doesn't appear to be bent. I thought for sure it was, but when I climbed under the car I got a close look and the bumper cap did kiss it b/c there are white marks.....but no bending from what I saw...I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks for all the words of support and empathy.....good to know I'm not the only one to experience something like this. I'll keep you all posted on the repairs, cost, and provide pics once all is complete. Everyone keeps saying, "they'll fix it just like new", yeah maybe, but it won't be "new" anymore you know?

ayethetiense

unfortunately, there is probably a lot of damage under there.

good news..... very good news is.... the place you go to to get it fixed, they can probably paint match your bumper better then stock.
i was hit on my front bumper, passenger fender and when they fixed it, the paint is so much better

thing's will be ok man. insurance will cover it, and yes i do understand about your "new car feeling", it happened to me when my car was fairly new as well. in time you will get over it and that sick feeling will leave and you will love the TL again. once its all fixed, go buy yourself a new toy. like a comptech RSB. or an intake. go tint it, make it an excuse to your wife. she'll understand if you say it properly hahaha

mp3car

You may be abot to get "depreciation" out of his insurance company since your car is so new... if this is something that will go on a carfax report, not sure what the criteria for something to get on there is, but if this goes on car fax report, then you should be able to get depreciation value from his insurance company since your car is now worth less than it was before the accident since it was such a new car, a friend did it on his car that was only two weeks old when someone hit him.

VTECboy

I feel your pain.......literally. After just 2 months in my new TL, I got rear ended while sitting at a light. She never hit her brakes. It took me a little while to even figure out what had just happened to me. Over $7000 in damage. The new car thing is totally gone. Just got it back last week, but they still have some misc. touching up to do. I just can't stand the idea of making new car payments on a rebuilt car. Maybe I'll feel better when it is completely fixed next week.

VTECboy

I'm thinking of going after their insurance company for depreciated value also. How did your friend do it? I had a friend who did nothing and a check suddenly showed up. I don't think I'll be that lucky.

mp3car

I don't know the details, I don't think it was too difficult for him to do though.

Rsvl05TL

Just got the initial estimate from the repair shop......$1166.93
This is without taking off the bumber cap.

The estimator said that from what he can see, and his 20 + years of experience, there is more damage that awaits once the cap is removed and he was sure that the estimate $ amount would easily double once a complete inspection is done.

The car is in the shop now for the "tear down" and I should have it back sometime late next week with all repairs completed.....keeping fingers crossed.

03CoupeV6

When I had an accident in my previous car, I hit a deer - and after my car was fixed I got a check for "diminished value". I wasn't even expecting it.

State Farm

J RIDE 81

Hopefully they get it like new again for you. G'Luck!

Rsvl05TL

Just got the updated repair cost now that the shop removed the bumper cap
new total is now .......$1497.43

The rear quarter panel was pushed out due to the damage in the right rear hence the increased repair cost. My contact has been good to deal with so far and understands that I want my new car to look "new" once again. Again, I should have it back late next week and I'll repost with Wendy looking at her best once again.

Thanks for all the words of support and I'll have to ask my claims agent about the "diminished value" due to the accident.

TL260power

that sucks!!!!!

supernova_inc

Out of curiosity what insurance company are you going through? That estimate seems right on for just some minor damage underneith. As far as diminished value I guess it all depends on the company. the company I work for does not issue a check for that due to the accident unless it is something willing to pursue to court but they are sticklers on just getting things back to prior impact and nothing more

Today I wrote another estimate on a 04 TL. was rear end impact similar to yours and after tear down they were looking at roughly $3200 but his cover was cracked in 2, impact bar bent, and rear body floor kinked in 2 spots, hurray for structural realignment . Anyways it seems as though they are doing the right things fo far. Make sure when you get it back the pain matches or don't accept it. that is the shops responsibility to blend properly and show the insurance company they did it right for the proper charges for blends etc.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Ouch, that's gotta suck. Brand new car.

Well, at least it looks like it broke off clean. No damages to the quarter panels from what I can tell in the pictures. That would've been worse.

Fabvsix

I wish I could show the damage that some uninsured jacka$$ did to my 2003 MDX with only 11,XXX miles on it and one week from a year old. I was broadsided at 35-40 mph by a lincoln town car. Total damage $9,750.00 plus. Took almost 2 month to repair. Once I got it back I drove to my dealership and traded it for a 2005 match cause it wasn't the same (rattle box).
Good luck !

Rick-H

[ . . . just what is it that one can BUMP with a modern car "bumper" and not sustain hundreds or thousands in damage? a cheeseburger maybe?

Russdaddy

How in the blue hell do you not see someone sitting still at a red light?

KJSmitty

Come on man!

--It's really hard to do when you're smoking a cigarette, eating, talking on the cell phone, and looking in the rearview to fix your hair and/or talking to your kids in the back seat,, all while checking out the individual in the Porsche next to you........


I'm sure all of us have been guilty of loosing our "situational awareness" while behind the wheel..

We all definitely need to remind ourselves that "when we're driving, think about driving/the road in front of you" etc. - Infamous words of the officer teaching the driving school I "opted" to attend...... (Kept that "running the stop sign" violation off my record...)

Cheers

Rsvl05TL

I have my insurance through AAA and I have to say that so far the process has been pretty smooth. I still haven't heard back yet as to whether or not I'll be reimbursed for my deductible since it was the idiot's fault for rear-ending me. I'll be following up on that shortly.

gstais

Sorry to hear about your ride. But don't worry, when you get your car back I am sure you will feel better.

The same thing happened to me about 3 months ago. Some A$$H*LE slammed into me on Highway 4 in Pittsburg. What angered me the most (besides the fact that my car had been damaged) was when the jerk that hit me said that "I HAD STOPPED TOO FAST!" I think he was on his cell phone, but I could not prove it. The damage to my TL was not quite as bad as yours (the bill was around $1000), but the bumper cover still had to be replaced.

In any event, when I got my TL back, it looked brand new. Just make sure the Insurance Company doesn't try to replace your bumper cover with a remanufactured part. Some insurance companies are now pushing used or refurbished parts rather than new OEM parts to save money.

As for the "diminished value" of your car, I don't think that should be an issue.

Anyway, good luck and CHILL!!.

Regards,

Fabvsix

gstais:
I live in Antioch and can feel your pain from hwy 4 in pittsburg/baypoint etc......Where are you out this way ?